IND vs ENG: India has announced their squad for the five-match T20I series to be played between India and England, starting from the 22nd of October at the Eden Gardens.
The squad does not include many new names; however, the return of Mohammed Shami has given much joy to the Indian fans, while Shivam Dube, despite his return from injury, did not find a place in the squad for the England T20s.
Instead, star Indian rising talent Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played a pivotal role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has been selected for the T20I series against England as the second seam bowling all-rounder.
While Washington Sundar makes his way back into the Indian T20I side, he might be seen only as a backup for the experienced World Cup-winning campaigner Axar Patel.
India T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav [C], Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, NK Reddy, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, and Dhruv Jurel.
India’s likely playing XI:
Openers: Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma
With his likely form from the previous series against Bangladesh and South Africa, Sanju Samson now has the second-most hundreds for India in T20s alongside the Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
Abhishek Sharma, the ferocious striker of the cricket ball, has also been in stunning form for India as well as the domestic tournaments like SMAT and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, owing to which he retains his place in India playing 11.
Middle Order: Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rinku Singh
Another rising talent has been the great Tilak Varma, the promising all-rounder who scored back-to-back hundreds against South Africa and will seemingly be continuing his form in the upcoming series as well.
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, the powerhouse of Indian talent, will lead the Indian side while Rinku Singh, the explosive all-rounder, is likely to step in at no. 6 after the all-rounder Nitish Reddy to give the finishing touch to the innings.
All-Rounders: Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel
The Indian all-rounder deck looks very impressive with the inclusion of Nitish Kumar Reddy, while alongside Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, India will now have a batting depth up to no. 8, which will help them restore their record against the Englishmen.
Bowlers: Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh
The legendary pacer Mohammed Shami is finally back in India’s squad after a span of almost 400 days after the pacer returned from his long-time injury. While ace Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh will be in the hunt for being the first Indian bowler to pick 100 wickets in the T20I format.
Chakravarthy, who picked a huge pile of wickets in the South Africa tour, has also been included in the playing XI, while Ravi Bishnoi has been left out of the XI.
ALSO READ: IND vs ENG: Three Indian batters with the most runs in T20Is against England ft. Suryakumar Yadav
